Hello and welcome back. Today is Friday March 5, 2010
My name is Angela Walton-Raji and this is the African Roots Podcast

Now that spring is almost here, and this winter is almost behind us, there are lots of things to talk about today.

African Burial Ground is Open For many years we have been following the history of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan. Finally there has been an official opening to the site and visitors can pay their respects to those who were enslaved there in the late 1700s. For more information a detailed article appeared in the NY Times.

St. Louis Black History project
Those interested in the history of St. Louis Missouri African American history are encouraged to pay attention to the documents of the Western Historical Collection of the University of Missouri St. Louis. This is a chance to see documents, photographs and listen to oral histories that have been collected over the years.

Good news for those researching Lynchburg Virginia. Some online records from the Diuguid Funeral home are now available online and are searchable. And contratry to what some might think, the records do include some African American burials. So if there are family ties to this region this is worth exploring.
Among the things included on this site are:
1. Rare burial records for slaves and free people of color before the Civil War
2.Bburial records for nearly 3000 confederate and Union soldiers buried in Lynchburg, a railhead & hospital center in the CW
3. Information about fraternal and sororl organizations, especially those of AA’s.
4. Burial records for Lynchburg’s indigent, handled the Overseers of the Poor 1820-1920″

The 6th Annual Genealogy Fair has been announced at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington DC. There will be displays and workshops of interest to researchers on many levels. There will also be sessions of interest to those ofAfrican, Asian, Native American and European backgrounds as well.

News is out of Richmond Virginia that plans are now underway to develop a Museum of slavery at long last. The Richmond Slave Trail Commission is ready to take the initial steps to develop an African-American heritage district and slavery museum which will be located in Shockoe Bottom. Consultants are being .

Recent EventsThis has been for me an incredible week of genealogical excitement. Last week I spoke at the 1st Conference of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Descendants and it was an incredible experience. People came from all over the country and it was an event that stirred the soul. The energy was so positive and people were there to learn history. Stories were shared and elders came and were a part of the events. Hopefully this will be the first of more to come.

Yesterday, many of us in the genealogy community were able to follow the adventures of Luckie Davis of OurGeorgiaRoots blog, who had the chance to attend a lecture by Dr. Henry Louis Gates. The thrill for many of us is that she was using Twitter while there and sharing her adventure with us. Several of us had sent her questions to ask Dr. Gates if she got the chance. Well—she got the chance. Furthermore, they were impressed enough to ask for her list of questions, and she was allowed to ask some of them in front of the live audience. She was able to put the African American Genealogy community in front of the eyes of many people, and we represented the community so well. If you have not had the chance to visit her blog or read the many articles that she has contributed to the genealogy community, then you must visit her blog: www.ourgeorgiaroots.com People like Luckie are those who illustrate why we do what we do.

Thanks for your time this week. Have a great week, and keep doing what you do.
Keep researching
Keep documenting
And keep sharing what you find.

Meta

About Me

Author of "Black Indian Genealogy Research", Member of AAHGS -Afro-American Historical & Gennealogical Society, Founding member of AfriGeneas, Faculty for Samford IGHR, and MAAGI -Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, PAAC-Preservation of African American Cemeteries